Chapter 25: The Razor's Edge.
There's fighting on the left
And marching on the right
Don't look up in the sky
You're gonna die of fright
Here comes the razors edge
You're living on the edge
Don't know wrong from right
They're breathing down your neck
You're running out of lives
And here comes the razors edge
Here comes the razors edge
The razors edge
"The Razor's Edge" Music and lyrics by AC/DC.
For the umpteenth time that day, ever since they'd started on this mad plan, Zone wondered if he was a fool. Not for listening to Squall's strategies; despite the fact that the SeeD was reassuringly imperfect, he more than made up for it in sheer brilliance. No, he wondered if Squall was right and he was a fool to trust Rowan, a woman who'd proved that she shouldn't be. Still, there was no help for it; and she might indeed be of some use. Despite his own misgivings, he couldn't feel overly threatened by her. Not when she was so patently without options.
Moving about the base and working their way gradually toward their goal of the armory was a nerve-wracking process however, made even more so by the fact that if Rowan should take it into her head to do so, a single shout could be their end.
The SeeDs, Zell and Selphie, along with Watts, followed close behind Rowan, occasionally stopping her and dragging everyone into this hiding place or that. An alcove here, a closet there, an opened doorway, a blind corner…each potential encounter set Zone's heart pounding fit to burst from his chest.
He didn't know how they knew when to hide, but they always did. Perhaps it had something to do with their Guardians. He'd heard something of the sort from Squall.
At any rate, the slow, somewhat meandering progress that they made eventually led out to the asphalt-paved parade ground, where the Galbadians were setting the stage for their attack. It almost literally boiled with activity, with soldiers running to and fro while orders were being shouted over the din of several rumbling diesel engines, the loudest of which belonged to the battlewagons.
At the moment, they were crouched behind the front tire of a troop transport truck, which apparently was not to be put into service, if its silent engine were any indication. Selphie was studying the rumbling battlewagons with intense interest, while Zell was watching the preparations taking place and doing his best to find a clear pathway toward the armory.
"Battlewagons have got to go," Selphie whispered, watching them with narrowed eyes.
"Got enough firepower?" Zell asked her quietly.
"Yes," she answered.
"You know where, right?" he asked.
She nodded.
"You find an opening, take it. I'll use the confusion to attack the armory." Zell said.
"All right." She replied, attention sharpening on the milling soldiery.
Zone exchanged a glance with Rowan, then with Watts, seeing the same apprehensive anticipation that he feared he was displaying as well. The SeeDs appeared to have forgotten their presence, their attention wholly upon their respective jobs. Taking advantage of the momentary respite, Zone checked the magazine of the assault rifle that Zell had given him after quickly, brutally and quietly killing a soldier they'd stumbled upon just prior to arriving at the parade grounds. A click caught his attention and he watched Watts doing the same with his weapon.
Thinking back on the encounter, he suppressed a shudder. Zell hadn't been completely silent; the sickening crack of the man's neck as Zell broke it had sounded as loud as a gunshot to Zone. Once again, he couldn't help thinking of Zell and his commander as a pair of leashed jungle cats; Squall's strength more than reminiscent of the lion he'd taken for his totem, while Zell's lithe speed and agility put him in mind of a leopard.
Like the leopard, Zell crouched tensely in hiding, waiting for an opportunity to strike. It came when Selphie saw a break in the activity and rolled under the truck without a word, coming out the other side and rising to a crouch, then disappearing from view. The quick, light patter of her footsteps was all that could be heard.
Watts frowned after her, hesitated, and shot Zone a look. Then he shrugged and followed after Selphie. Zone had an overwhelming urge to swear inventively at his friend's impulse.
"Come on." Zell whispered then, leading them to the cover of several drums of petrol, the fumes making Zone's nose itch and eyes water. From there, it was several crates of supplies, then another vehicle, this one a general utility truck. Each new hiding place working them closer to the armory.
They crouched behind the truck, Zell watching the battlewagons and the other idling vehicles in silent anticipation. Zone divided his attention between the battlewagons and the armory, the entrance of which was just a few meters away and heavily guarded. He had no idea how they'd manage to get past so many guards.
He was about to ask, worrying as he did if he should even speak, when Zell caught his eye and saw the question reflected in his anxious expression. Wordlessly, he pointed at Zone's rifle and mimed spraying bullets at the guards. Then he tugged on his ear and indicated the direction Selphie had gone.
Attack the guards after Selphie blows up the battlewagons. Zell's signals had been clear enough on what he meant. Zone nodded, confirming that he understood. He shifted slightly and Zell held up his hand, then pushed it toward the ground.
Don't move. Wait.
All right, he would wait. Next to him, Rowan swallowed and licked her lips, looking nervously around. Zone hoped she knew better than to speak, then he saw her eyeing his rifle longingly. He thought about that for a moment.
Unarmed, she was a liability. Armed, a potential asset. Squall might not trust her as far as he could throw her (given the SeeD's strength, that might be a surprisingly far distance, come to think of it…) but Zone rather thought that at this point in the game, she was more likely to help than hinder. If she were inclined to expose them to the soldiers, she'd had plenty of opportunities to do so prior to this point. So thinking, he pulled a 9mm sidearm he'd appropriated from its resting place at the small of his back, checking the magazine and flipping off the safety.
He handed it to her without comment, putting his finger to his lips to remind her to keep silent when she gasped audibly. Zell watched the exchange without expression, then turned his attention back to the guards and the milling soldiers.
Zone waited as tense minutes ticked by, waited for Selphie to set the powder keg alight and start a war. Waited for far longer than he felt he could stand. He thought he'd be prepared for it, when she set off the explosives. It wasn't as though it was unexpected after all.
He still jumped when the bombs went off and all hell broke loose.
Squall had a different mission. A harder one. How does one eliminate the entire command staff of a military base when he has no idea where they all are? The logical answer of course would be the base's command post, the administrative offices. The command staff would likely be there, directing the operation. Issuing orders, receiving reports, gauging the readiness of the troops. It would have the most activity, the largest concentration of soldiers coming and going.
And Squall was going to have to take them all on. He glanced over at Rinoa, who walked confidently at his side, and felt both heartened and worried. Heartened that he wouldn't be facing such impossible odds alone, and worried that despite Rinoa's power as a sorceress, she would pay with her life for supporting him.
They had prepared as well as they could. Regen, protect, aura spells…all either cast and active or ready to hand should they be needed. Squall was as ready as he could get, as was Rinoa.
They ghosted along the hallway of the building they had entered, encountering no one as yet. As they did, Squall tried to bring up a mental image of the layout of the base itself. They had entered through an access hatch that led to an attic storage closet; in what Zone had told Squall was an office building of some sort. Not surprising, as Galbadia's military was notorious for its bureaucracy. Fortunately, the offices were empty for the most part, with almost everyone else engaged otherwise.
Almost.
Angelo's pricked ears and soft growl warned Squall at the same time his Guardian did. A uniformed soldier, likely a clerk, exited an office down the hall ahead of Squall and Rinoa, prompting him to duck into the shelter of a doorway, pulling Rinoa with him. A cautious peek a few seconds later showed an empty hallway.
They continued on, with Squall drawing his gunblade with grim purpose. They would not reveal themselves until they had to. So anyone they encountered would die.
A surge of….something…prompted Squall to glance at Rinoa, then pause briefly as her eyes flared golden and her skin appeared to glow with a soft luminescence. The effulgence brightened and flowed out from her shoulders, gradually taking the form of transparent, spectral angel's wings. They faded to near invisibility as they walked, but Squall could still see them out of the corner of his eye if the light hit just right. He could still feel the cool, feathery touch of her power when he brushed against them.
Half-seen like smoke, half-felt like mist. They were real, they existed, and yet…they did not. This physical manifestation of Rinoa's power had been extremely disconcerting to him at first, but he'd quickly gotten past that, as the only time he'd ever seen it was in the extreme straights of a life-or-death struggle. The larger concern of survival took precedence on those occasions, and her power had quickly become a very useful tool, saving his and their friends' lives on more than one occasion. It had been easy to overlook the strangeness of it because of that.
And now…it was no longer strange. Merely a part of her, an ability no different in his mind than an unusual talent for swordsmanship, or singing or music.
They padded silently along the hallway, making their way toward the exit. From there, they would work their way toward what Squall hoped would be a fully staffed and active command center. They encountered no one else as they descended from the top floor to the ground floor via the stairs, with Squall mulling over an exit strategy, eyeing the emergency exits speculatively before dismissing them from his mind. Like all such exits, they were alarmed.
Front door then. And there was no help for it, they would be seen.
Flattening himself to the side of the glass doors, out of sight, Squall whispered to Rinoa, "We'll have to do this in a rush. Engage no one unless we have to."
"Right." Rinoa nodded, checking the weapon she had strapped to her forearm.
Peering out through the glass, Squall watched the coming and going of uniformed men, waiting. Selphie's responsibility would be to destroy the battlewagons and as many of the other vehicles arrayed out on the tarmac as she could. In carrying out that responsibility, she would create a diversion that would allow Squall and Rinoa, as well as Zone and Zell, to launch their attacks.
So he waited, moment by tense moment, hoping that Selphie had not been captured and that she'd been able to plant the explosives. He did his best to ignore the tight ball of nerves that his stomach had curled into and simply watched, pressed against the wall, and waited for Hell to break loose.
It did so in a satisfyingly dramatic fashion. A sudden boom, a roiling fireball shooting skyward, followed by a second, then a third. Squall pulled back away from the doors and swept his arm around Rinoa, pressing her into the reassuringly solid block of the wall with his body. He tucked his head into the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent of her skin and hair, holding her against him while the ground shook and the hot rush of the blast shattered the glass of the doors he'd just been peering through.
When the ground stopped shaking, he cautiously peeked around the wall to where the glass doors had once been, now just scattered shards and empty space. Shouts, screams, boiling confusion were what greeted him. Perfect. He marked the direction that he thought, according to the layout of the base, the command post would be.
"Let's go." He said, glancing back to see Rinoa's nod before crunching carefully through the glittering remnants of broken glass, mindful of the chancy footing, before reaching the pavement outside and increasing his pace to a jog, gunblade ready.
Angelo loped ahead, while Rinoa ran next to and slightly behind him. Another explosion went off, causing him to duck and increase his pace. Fortunately it wasn't close enough to be a problem, though the debris that rained down from it might be. The chaos increased and for a while, nobody paid any attention to them as they raced toward the command post.
Then… "Intruders! HALT!"
A shot rang out as Squall altered course and charged at the soldier, gunblade cutting through the air with a deadly whistle. The bullet whizzed harmlessly past Squall, a clear miss, while the gunblade sliced through skin, muscle and bone, leaving a twitching, bleeding corpse behind. Squall charged onward without slackening pace, a growling red bloodlust beginning to rise in the back of his mind. The dragon in his mind was watching, eagerly waiting its turn.
Ahead and to each side, soldiers began converging upon them, yelling orders and shooting. Neither Squall nor Rinoa slowed or altered their course, and none of the soldiers facing them could stop their charge. Later, Squall would respect them for their courage, but at the moment, they were simply obstacles.
Rinoa began casting thundaga and firaga spells, taking care of anyone that attempted to flank them, while Squall became the physical embodiment of Hell's fury. He cleaved his way through one soldier, ducking the attack of another and whirling to slash out with Lion Heart, decapitating him. He parried and blocked with lightening speed, finding an opening to gut his next opponent, then kicking him aside to deal with yet another attacker.
Their progress slowed as more soldiers, drawn by the battle, began taking part in it. Squall growled in frustration at this, not wanting to call Bahamut just yet. Rinoa kept casting thundaga and firaga spells, backing him up as she always had, and doing a far better job of it than she had on their first pitched battle together. Now, instead of having to protect her, they protected each other.
Confident that she was guarding his back and his flanks, he continued to charge forward, hacking and slashing his way through the enemy soldiers, carving his way toward what he hoped was the command post. The flurry of activity around the building certainly gave it the appearance of being a place of some importance.
Viciously slashing the throat of an attacking gunblader, Squall came to a sudden lull in the battle; the group that Squall had just cut his way through a far enough distance from the command post that a sudden but appreciated respite was the result. He knew it couldn't last, but he needed that moment to get his bearings and prepare for his next move. A gurgling at his feet caught his attention and Squall glanced down at the soldier whose throat he'd just slashed, meeting the fear-filled eyes of the dying man briefly. Then he rammed his gunblade down into the man's chest, coolly hastening his departure.
Explosions continued to go off, whether that was Selphie's doing or if that meant that Zone and Zell had succeeded in taking control of the armory, thereby availing themselves of the ordinance there, he couldn't be sure. But the resultant confusion was certainly working in his favor. Narrowing his eyes, he glanced at Rinoa and gave her a wordless nod. It was time to up the ante.
She drew herself up to her full height and closed her eyes, concentrating on forming the spell that she could see clearly in her mind. She had seen it used only once, by Griever as they fought it in Ultimecia's castle. But she remembered it. She remembered how much power it required; she remembered the shape, the feel, and the flavor of the spell. Somehow something that Ultimecia had left behind, some residue of her power that had mingled with Rinoa's own, had given her the ability to recognize the spell…to re-create it. So she concentrated, pulled together and wove threads of power into the shape of the spell, spinning it out like threads from a spool until she could see and feel its shape taking place.
When she judged it ready, a surging, spitting ball of energy still roiling in her mind, she released it by calling its name. "Shockwave Pulsar!"
Light. Blinding, searing, brilliant light. And heat, washing over him like fire, almost but not quite burning, consuming him. Squall couldn't help but close his eyes, ducking behind his upraised arm to shield his face; a bodily reflex that he knew better than to fight. He had the odd feeling of somehow being apart from the storm, protected within it as in the eye of a hurricane, while unimaginable forces raged just outside.
It seemed to last forever, with a quiet, rushing whoosh like a blooming of flame. Then suddenly it was gone, leaving an empty, ringing silence behind. Squall cautiously lowered his arm, opening his eyes to see the result of that awesome release of power. The shockwave pulsar spell was a powerful one, and devastating no matter the level of magic employed in its use. Rinoa, with the practice she'd had not only in using Guardians but also in wielding her own magic, was nearly the equivalent of an A-level SeeD by this point, particularly after the battle with Ultimecia.
The destruction was impressive, to say the least. Squall stood side by side with Rinoa inside a circle of nothing but fine, white ash that extended to a twenty-five meter radius from where they stood. Outside that radius was twisted, blackened, burned wreckage….and bodies. But beyond that, the command post still stood, only slightly singed. And despite the fact that Squall and Rinoa had completely destroyed a portion of the base with a single attack, the base commander somehow managed to rally his remaining troops and convinced them to fight on.
Squall didn't know how many soldiers that one spell of Rinoa's had accounted for, but obviously enough remained that they felt they could continue. But Squall wasn't finished. He'd barely even begun to fight.
Master. Bahamut's voice, both question and eagerness combined in that one sending.
As more soldiers came at them, shooting, Squall closed his eyes, ignoring the whizzing bullets. Even those that managed to penetrate his weakening protect spell, leaving hot furrows of pain behind. He took a deep breath, gathering power, and called.
"Bahamut! Mega flare!"
Watch the skies, He'd directed the resistance. That is your signal.
A dragon called by moonlight and descending amid a crackling of lightning and thunder was an awesome sight. But it could be dismissed as part of the mist and magic of the night, equal parts dream and nightmare. The ephemeral reality of the Guardians upon this plane of existence tended to reinforce that notion.
But a dragon called in full daylight was revealed in that light to be all too devastatingly real. And unmistakable to someone waiting for a sign that it was time to attack. No one else but SeeDs used GF's. And no one but Squall could call a dragon.
Zell, Zone and Rowan were crouched behind some sandbags, the erstwhile shelter of the two still, bloodied soldiers that lay against the wall of the armory. They had managed to achieve their objective; Zone still couldn't figure out exactly how, and now had the entire armory at their disposal. All that Zone could remember of it was a blur of whizzing, pinging bullets, and Zell somehow disappearing from view and reappearing again, leaving twisted and broken bodies in his wake.
He knew he'd killed more than a couple of soldiers himself, and surprisingly, Rowan had held up her end as well. Between them, Zone felt, if not equal to the SeeD, at least not a completely useless burden.
Selphie was out somewhere at large with Watts, creating an impressive amount of havoc, and Zone was more that a little impressed with her accomplishments. It wasn't hard to track her progress either, each new explosion that damaged yet another vehicle or building was easily identifiable as her work.
Squall and Rinoa were presumably working their way toward the command center, bent upon Squall's objective of taking out at least the base commander, if not the entire staff as well. Their progress would be impossible to track, but there was the signal that Squall said that he'd send.
Watch the skies, he'd said. Zone knew he meant to call the dragon again, and wished for a moment that he could see the looks on the faces of Shrike's kin and the rest of the resistance members when he did. Hell, he wanted to see it; wanted to thrill again to its terrible, devastating power and beauty.
But they had control of the armory…barely. And if they wanted to keep control of it, they had to fight off the entire garrison in order to do so…or at least those soldiers not otherwise occupied with trying to find the saboteur who kept blowing things up. So he and Rowan were given the job of laying down covering fire for Zell, who used his Guardian liberally to keep the ranks thinned enough that they could hold their objective. By the skin of their teeth.
"DOWN!" Zell yelled, throwing something toward a jumble of boxes and pallets that a squad of soldiers was sheltering behind while peppering them with sporadic bursts of gunfire. Zone and Rowan, followed quickly by Zell, immediately flattened themselves to the ground behind the sandbags, covering their heads as the grenades that Zell had just thrown detonated, taking out fully half of the soldiers and all of their hiding spots that had been plaguing them.
It was after the debris had finished clattering to the ground, the energy of the blast expended and the damage done, when it was safe to look up, that it happened. Zone had just raised his head and started to peek above the meager shelter of the sandbags, when Zell gasped and immediately pressed his hand down upon Zone's head, forcing him back down, doing the same with Rowan as well.
"What?" he began, only to have Zell order him, "Don't look up! No matter what! Keep your eyes closed, unless you want to be blinded!"
He immediately closed his eyes and opened his mouth to ask why, but the answer came immediately after that urgent statement. A blinding flash of light, blinding even through his closed eyelids, a wash of intense heat and the sound of roaring flame threatened to burn not just his eyes, but everything to ash as he pressed against the ground. Zone squeezed his eyes shut more tightly and prayed.
What the hell is THAT? He thought wildly. He hadn't seen the dragon, so couldn't be sure if that was Squall's doing or not. It went on just long enough for him to worry they'd be consumed by it. …Then it stopped as suddenly as it began. The silence that followed left a chill up Zone's spine.
Zell lifted his hands from Zone and Rowan's heads and said calmly, "It's okay now." Zone looked up, blinking, and met Zell's eyes, shocked at how calm he appeared. Rowan simply stared, wide-eyed and pale.
Swallowing to moisten his dry mouth, he asked, "What….what was that?"
"Rinoa. She cast Shockwave Pulsar." Zell licked his dry lips and added in a subdued voice, "I didn't know she knew how to do that."
Zone felt as though his heart had stopped. Then it started pounding fit to burst.
"Rinoa?" He croaked hoarsely. Then he asked, "How did you know…. it was coming?"
"Shiva warned me. She sensed the spell being cast." Zell answered absently, cautiously peering over the edge of their sandbag barrier.
"Did that…. wipe everybody out?" Zone asked, following Zell's lead and peeking over the barrier as well.
A sudden barrage of gunfire sent them all diving for the cover of the sandbags, with Zell saying unnecessarily, "Apparently not."
"How? I thought for sure we were cooked. Anyone else would have been if they hadn't been under cover." Zone demanded as he checked the magazine on his rifle and cursed quietly upon discovering it empty. "Shit. I'm out," he added.
"Me too," Rowan said. "I'll go get some more clips." She immediately backed up and crawled toward the ammo boxes.
"Thanks." Zone said.
"We were just outside the range of the spell I think. I saw where it ended. So I guess it didn't get any of our friends out there." Zell belatedly answered Zone's question. Then he squinted at the sky and frowned slightly.
Zone followed his gaze and felt a keen sense of disappointment at its emptiness. He hoped Squall hadn't gotten caught up in that spell or had fallen in battle. They needed the resistance to attack; they couldn't hold out much longer, even with the entire garrison's arsenal at their disposal.
Come on man, call it already. We need the reinforcements. Zone thought, huddled behind the sandbags, listening to the thunk of bullets imbedding themselves into the barrier, the zing of those that ricocheted off to parts unknown. He hoped that Rowan would hurry up with the ammo; he knew it wouldn't be long before the soldiers shooting at them would advance if they didn't return fire.
It was with that thought in mind that Zell snuck a peek over the barrier and cursed softly, pulled the pin on another grenade and quickly threw it. He ducked down again when it went off and immediately stood after the smoke cleared and summoned his GF to take care of whoever was left.
But they kept coming. Apparently, it was decided to mount a concerted effort to retake the armory. And even with Zell and his arsenal on their side, they could only hold out for so long. Zone looked around for Rowan, wondering where she was with that blasted ammo. He was a sitting duck without it, and hated the fact that Zell had to handle everything on his own.
"I need some fucking ammo," He growled in frustration. The grenades would do in a pinch, and he grabbed and tossed a couple, hoping to thin out the enemy soldiers a bit. They both ducked as they went off and waited for the smoke to clear.
Zell glanced over at him, and then said grimly, "You might have to go get it. I don't see Rowan anywhere."
"What?" Zone demanded.
Zell didn't respond, busy casting multiple firaga, blizzaga and thundaga spells. Chewing at his lower lip, Zone cautiously surveyed the situation, not liking the fact that despite Zell's best efforts, they were in imminent danger of being flanked. Making a decision, he crawled backward and, keeping as low as possible, went over to the metal ammo boxes that the soldiers had kept close to hand in their nest, finding them empty upon inspection.
"Shit," he whispered. He'd have to go into the armory itself, a risky proposition but one he had no choice but to do. Zell was busy fighting for them all, and he was just barely holding off the advancing troops.
Keeping low, Zone headed back toward the armory, shoving the niggling worry over Rowan's whereabouts to the back of his mind. A bullet whinged past his head, striking the door panel far too close for comfort; Zone flattened himself against the ground, crawling the rest of the way into the building on his belly.
He went immediately to the metal boxes of ammunition, grabbing up two of them and turning back toward the doorway. A muffled sound off to the side caught his attention and he whirled, heart pounding. Rowan crouched in the shadows next to the doorway, huddled in on herself and visibly shaking.
"Rowan?" Zone whispered.
She looked up and focused on him, face tear-streaked and expression bleak. "I can't….I can't do this anymore." She gasped quietly and gulped, scrubbing her face against her sleeve, and added. "I'm sorry, but I can't make myself go out there."
Zone studied her in silence for a moment.
Taking his silence for condemnation, she whispered thinly, "I know…." she snuffled and continued, "I should probably die for what I've done. I know Squall at least wants to kill me. And….this would be a good way to…um…but… But I don't want to." Dissolving into tears, she said, "I don't want to live, but I'm too scared to die. I'm such a coward!"
Frowning, Zone tried and failed to think of something, anything, to say to her. He'd liked her well enough once, though he'd never felt more than friendship for her, despite the intimacy of their relationship. Now however he was strung between what he'd felt in the past and what he felt now. And because of that, he found it harder to be sympathetic to her plight than he'd thought. Still, she would be of no help in her current condition, and would perhaps be better off out of the way.
Finally he said softly, "Stay here then. Hide. If we don't make it then run."
She gave him a jerky nod and he turned toward the door, dismissing her from his mind. Popping open one of the ammo boxes, he quickly reloaded his rifle and shut it again. Peering cautiously out toward the nest, and seeing that everything appeared clear, he started to make his way from the armory to where Zell was crouched, panting and looking exhausted.
There was a momentary lull in the gunfire, a result of either a GF summon or some other sort of attack that the SeeD had done, so Zone felt relatively safe in crossing the two or three meters from the armory's doorway to back to the nest. Keeping low, and dragging the ammo boxes with him, Zone crept back, keeping an eye out for anything and feeling horribly exposed. Vulnerable to attack.
With the way he'd slung his rifle over his shoulder and the heavy boxes of ammunition he was dealing with, Zone very much doubted that he'd present much of a challenge to anyone, should they attack him. He fumbled and scuffled, straining his ears through the thunder of explosions and sporadic gunfire for…anything.
Zone became acutely aware of the scent of the dirt he was scrabbling through, the reek of his own fear-sweat and the acrid stench of the black smoke that wafted toward him from a burning pile of debris nearby. The scrape of the metal ammunition boxes raked sharp fingers down his spine as he dragged them along with him. Explosions, the spitting crackle of lightening, the rumbling boom of thunder, the sharp bark of gunfire, Zell shouting and swearing at him…. it all threatened to overwhelm him.
In a split second that seemed to last forever, everything happened at once; a scrape and a click from behind him, a scream, "Zone!" from Rowan, the staccato pop of a firearm going off, and another answering directly behind him. Zone whirled, scrabbling to bring his rifle up in time to see Rowan slamming back against the side of the armory building, a trail of red blotches blooming across her torso. Her gun dropped from her nerveless fingers, thudding into the dirt as she slowly slid down the wall, leaving a red streak behind.
"Rowan!" Zone scrambled over the intervening distance, glancing once to the side to dimly register the slumped form of the Galbadian soldier that she had shot to save him…at the expense of her own life.
Her eyes were already glazing, breathing labored and harsh. Blood…. so much blood… the warm, metallic smell of it made his gorge rise. He swallowed back the bile that rose to the base of his throat and blinked his watering eyes, staring helplessly at her. Somewhere in the back of his mind, something was shouting at him to do something, put direct pressure on the wounds to slow the bleeding…something…but he was paralyzed. Too much blood, too many wounds…He didn't even know where to start.
"I'm…s..sorry…" she whispered thinly. A single tear leaked from the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek. She slowly lifted her hand and reached toward him, fingers trembling.
"P..please… 'm s-scared.." she gasped, letting the arm drop limply to her side. She started to slide sideways, and Zone scrambled to her side and caught her his arms, laying her across his lap and staring into her face, his mind refusing to register what was happening. Her blood was soaking his pants, warm, thick and wet, and a little trickle of it spilled from the corner of her mouth. She stared urgently into his eyes, fighting for breath in a labored wheeze.
"Ro…" he whispered, unable to stop the moisture that welled up and dropped onto her cheek.
"I've... paid…. forgive…. me?" she asked with great difficulty, eyes focused steadily on his.
With a trembling hand, Zone brushed the hair back from her face and wiped the moisture away from her cheeks where both his tears and hers had mingled. In another time, under different circumstances, he might have loved her. He couldn't say with any honesty, even now, that he felt that way about her…. at least not the way that he felt about Rinoa. The way that he knew, just from watching, that Squall loved Rinoa. That didn't mean that he didn't care about her, that seeing her dying in his arms didn't make his heart ache.
Blinking away more moisture from his eyes, as the life faded from hers, Zone said softly, "Yes, I forgive you Rowan." She struggled for a moment, eyes wide and blank with pain and fear, ash-pale lips working soundlessly to speak. Zone kissed her softly on the forehead, repeating, "I forgive you."
Sense returned to her briefly and she gave him a weak smile. "Th…" Then everything stopped, and Zone stared down at fixed, lifeless eyes. Bright sunlight grew dim as he gently closed them, unable to bear that empty gaze any longer. Thunder began to rumble and Zone wondered dully if a storm was coming. He directed his attention skyward to check.
Lightning speared in fiery webs across a sudden bank of black clouds, and a distant shriek, growing louder, could be heard within the rumbling of thunder and crackle of lightning. Then it burst through the clouds with a challenging roar, steely blue scales glittering, blood red wing undersides luridly flashing with its wing beats.
The great dragon soared overhead, growling audibly, then suddenly changed direction and dove, spitting white-hot plasma down onto the base with surgical precision.
"DOWN!" Selphie yelled, suiting words to action and diving for the dubious cover offered by a bank of waste bins. Watts followed without hesitation, not much interested in having his hide perforated. Despite the fact that Selphie had assured him that she'd cast a protection spell on him, Watts didn't feel like taking any chances.
Another explosion, this one far too close for comfort, made him duck even further and cover his head with his arms.
"Jeez Selphie, don't you think you ought to give us a little more lead before you set your bombs off?" Watts exclaimed; shaking his head to try and dispel the ringing the blast left behind.
"Sorry," She began, and then froze briefly, expression turning distracted. Her attention snapped back to him so quickly that Watts thought he'd imagined her brief abstraction. Then she pounced on him, pushed his head down into the dirt and dove down alongside him, ordering him to close his eyes and not to open them for anything.
Watts shut his eyes tightly and opened his mouth to ask her what was going on but got his answer in that moment when a wash of searing heat and bright light, light so bright that it dazzled even through his tightly shut eyelids, threatened to burn both Selphie and himself to bone. The heat increased to the point of near pain, and Watts began to fear very seriously that they were being burned to bone. Then just as suddenly as it began it was over.
Cautiously raising his head, he blinked, then turned to look at Selphie, who was also in the process of taking stock of things.
"What…" He cleared his throat and licked at his dry lips, "What was that? How did you know it was coming?"
"My Guardian warned me," She answered. She licked at her lips as well and answered slowly, "That was a shockwave pulsar spell. I've only seen it used a few times…. by Ultimecia."
"Ultimecia? That sorceress? I thought you guys killed her?" Watts asked, ice forming a ball in his stomach.
Selphie bit her lip, "We did. But… maybe Rinoa figured out how to re-create and cast the spell. That's the only thing that makes sense."
"Oh." Watts said. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. Hearing from Rinoa that she was a sorceress was one thing. Seeing it, actually seeing the kind of power that she could wield, was completely different. Frightening.
More than frightening. Terrifying.
Then he remembered the fear that had lurked in the back of her eyes when she had told him and Zone. He remembered how she'd clung to her SeeD as though he was her lifeline…. And as odd as it seemed, maybe he was. Who better than to protect a sorceress than one who'd been trained to destroy them? That thought however, brought another surge of fear, this time not of Rinoa and what she could do, but for her, and what might need to be done to her. Who better to watch a potential enemy than someone close to them?
It was a truism that went beyond cliché: Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer…. as close as a lover.
The ball of ice in his guts expanded and hardened into lead.
Watts shook his head, wondering at the trend his thoughts were taking. He'd seen Squall and Rinoa together when they'd thought no one was watching. Seen the softness in his eyes, the gentleness in his touch, and the utter devotion that Rinoa's own gaze held when she looked at him. It wasn't just for show, and he didn't think Squall was so good an actor that he could keep such a ruse going for as long as he had. Besides that, his own admission of his feelings for Rinoa had the ring of sincerity.
Which meant that his position was every bit as precarious as Rinoa's. It was his job to destroy sorceresses, and instead he was protecting one. She could destroy him just as easily as he could destroy her. Their situation held so much potential for tragedy that his heart ached.
"Hey," Selphie said, grabbing his shoulder and getting his attention. "Come on. We need to get that front gate open and let the reinforcements in!"
"What?" he asked, staring blankly at her. Selphie wordlessly pointed toward the sky.
Steel blue and scarlet wings spread wide, Squall's dragon soared majestically through a sky turned the color of gunmetal gray. Banking sharply, it dove, spitting plasma.
Watts stared for a moment, jaws agape at the beautiful terror in the sky, then quickly checked his magazine. Finding it empty, he slapped a new clip in and cocked the gun, then turned and ran after Selphie.
Author's Note: No, this chapter is in NO way finished, but i rather liked the stopping point I've reached. I didn't want it to dragon (cough) too long, after all. It will continue in the next chapter, with more fighting, blowing things up, and general mayhem. It IS a war after all.
again, sorry for the length of time between updates, my life has been more than just a little busy lately. I'm on vacation for the next week, and intend to try to convince Ashbear, who will be visiting me during that time, that 115 isn't REALLY that hot, not when there's no humidity. My guess is, we'll spend alot of time in a pool.
enjoy your summer folks! There IS more to come...